Savannah , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- This old Southern city is still waking up when the first members drift into the church basement . They turn on the lights , pull metal chairs across the wooden floor and settle in with paper cups of coffee and the weight of the week .

There 's work or not enough work . Diabetes . Tonight 's dinner and tomorrow 's , too . Parents in prison , neighbors just getting out . Kids who want some faraway , high-cost college and kids who do n't want to get out of bed on Sundays . Then there 's money -- always , forever money -- to think about . They 've heard weekly sermons about how to plan , overcome and grow , but the lessons really start to apply in Bible study , like today , when they 'll pore over a line and relate it back to the messy , wonderful business of living .

Worry is nothing new for the congregation at First African Baptist Church , which is well into its third century and one of the oldest black congregations in the United States . But this is a loving congregation , they say , and always the type to take action when times are hard . Of course they will feed the hungry , clothe the naked and teach the young , but they also want to preserve their space . Members say it was the first brick structure in Georgia that was built , used and owned by black people , that it 's their own living history of slavery , civil rights and freedom .

It 's just so much .

`` This is not new for us , '' says Gladys Cohen , a lifetime member and 7 a.m. Bible study regular . `` There 's just more needs . ''

So , with darkness pouring in the windows and a long day still ahead , the Rev. Thurmond N. Tillman sits in his folding chair and reminds his followers of the Bible passage he repeats most , from the book of Matthew : `` But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and all these things shall be added to you . ''

As they all know , it has worked for this congregation before .

Faith first , then freedom

More than 150 years ago , slaves built this church by fire and moonlight . They raised the walls with clay and sand blocks known as Savannah Gray Brick , and a white ceiling patterned after a nine-patch quilt , a symbol of safety from slavery .

After the first Bible study of the day , Johnny McDonald explains this to a small tour group seated in the church 's curved oak pews . He was baptized in First African 's chilly pool at age 7 and began giving tours as a teen . He 's 22 now , one semester shy of graduation from Savannah State University . He learned the church 's history through a thousand sermons and older members ' memories . Several times a week , he leads tours of each level , and shares everything he knows .

He talks about the earliest church leaders , who were whipped and harassed by white residents who balked at the idea of a black preacher . He tells of schisms that divided the flourishing black congregation .

He explains that in the 1830s , a white congregation planned to move to a new location , and offered its land and an aging wooden building to First African Baptist Church . The price was $ 1,500 .

Most of the church members were slaves , whose labor fueled Savannah 's agriculture and shipping economy . But many could earn money of their own by working after-hours or taking odd jobs . Some could save enough to buy freedom for themselves and their families .

So , they faced a choice , McDonald says : Use money saved to free themselves , or pool their funds to purchase a church for all .

He imagines that they read the line from Matthew , about seeking God 's kingdom first ; he knows that within a few months , they came up with the money , and the church was theirs .

But the building was already deteriorating when First African moved in . By the 1850s , Savannah was a growing city of 14,000 free residents and 7,000 slaves . The pastor championed a new structure , one made of brick , one made to last .

This very building , McDonald says .

He points out the handiwork of members who toiled through the night from 1855 to 1859 . They designed a tall sanctuary , balcony seating and pews with ancient African languages carved into the sides .

Perhaps their best plan was mostly out of view , McDonald explains as he leads visitors down stairs and into the basement . Beneath the wooden floor , builders left a space four feet tall , large enough to hide hundreds of slaves following the Savannah River to freedom . They punctured holes in the floor in the cross-and-diamond shape of an African prayer symbol , the Kongo Cosmogram , and publicly worshipped its ancient meaning . Quietly , underneath , runaways worshipped the light and air the symbols allowed .

`` You 're talking about working 12 to 16 hours , then turning around to come build a church at nighttime and going back to work on fields after that , '' he tells the tour group . `` If I can say so , that 's a lot of hard work , and a lot of dedication to the task at hand . ''

Most of the builders were still enslaved after the church doors opened , but freedom came to them a few years later , anyway , through the Emancipation Proclamation .

McDonald repeats the passage from Matthew again , `` All things shall be added . ''

`` That was no coincidence , '' he tells the crowd .

The pastor interrupts the tour to invite the guests to stay . There 's another Bible study at noon , and everyone is welcome here .

Rebuilding the church

`` Do we see ourselves as programmers , or do we see ourselves as builders ? '' the pastor asks .

It 's time for the evening Bible study , and the crowd has outgrown the basement . They 're sitting in pews in business suits and blue jeans ; Tillman is in the same suit he started the day in 12 hours before . They murmur the question , wondering what trick he has thrown at them . He asks again : Programmers , doing service as a thoughtless habit ? Or builders , serving to edify their church and its mission in the community ?

Since Tillman took over in 1982 , he has simplified how people worship . He encouraged members to decentralize ministries and take the lessons from church into their everyday lives . He wants them to consider the community 's needs and use their talents to serve the church , whether they 're passing out water at football games , teaching a seminar about financial planning or leading a church tour . This will never be a church that has to look far for service projects , Tillman says .

He needs only look at their building . It needs a kitchen ; the old one was removed to make wheelchair-accessible bathrooms . They want to replace the steeple with a 100-foot replica of the original , which was knocked down by a hurricane about a century ago . They want to rip the stucco off the exterior and preserve those old gray bricks , then build a museum out back to teach thousands of visitors who take their tour every year . It will cost millions , and nobody wants to spend a dime till they can do it without debt .

In Savannah , a city where history now drives much of the economy , they 're likely to get community support . Still , African-American spaces have long fallen behind others . Where there are well-preserved plantation mansions , slave quarters are often long gone . Aging churches all over the country are at risk , too -- there will always be other worries and other causes that need to be funded first .

But there 's no ignoring history , and especially faith , the pastor believes .

`` Just the fact that we 're in this building is a constant reminder of where God has blessed us , '' Tillman says . `` Those who were enslaved were able to build a sanctuary , an edifice like this , that 's built four-brick deep , that 's meant to stand for the ages -- surely we can keep it up . Surely , we can do other great and wonderful things in this day and time , regardless of how the economic times are . ''

We are builders , he tells the congregation , and builders must have plans .

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Savannah 's First African Baptist Church is one of the oldest black churches in the United States

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Early members , mostly slaves , built the church from 1855 to 1859

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Current members consider history when facing trouble